The NASCAR Thread

[Chargen69]

i meant to say for CUP races

I have never seen a CUP race on any night other than Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.....unless a race was postponed until Monday due to weather, or the Budweiser duels at Daytona that are usually held on Thursdays

what i was talking about was that several drivers were pushing (as recently as last year) like Brad K, to have a mid week race and "shorten" the race year so they are not racing from February til November, my point was, the fact that so many people werent expecting a midweek race at eldora and missed it, is a good reason not to ever consider running a mid week cup race.

it is hard enough to fill the stands and get people to tune in on a saturday or sunday.  wednesday would be stupid

[wingcar]

Kyle is on a mission to prove something.....I wish him the best and hope he does make the Chase.  Actually it would be something if he did win the Chase this year after all that's happened to him.

Bottomline for me is..I am fine with his winning basically everything in sight, so long as Johnson doesn't....  

[A383Wing]

exactly

[odcics2]

Kyle sucks along with all Toyotas.
Good thing the grand stands were empty!

Nascar is collapsing faster than previously thought. 

[Aero426]

I am surprised at the number of people who do not seem to care a whit about that particular kind of Brand X car in victory lane.  

One thing I have never seen at the track is a fan wearing a Toyota shirt.    You see Ford shirts.   You see Chevy shirts.   You see driver shirts.  

On the empty stands, it sure looked bad.      

[TruckDriver]

Nascar is collapsing faster than previously thought. 

I'm thinking so

[Aero426]

Nascar is collapsing faster than previously thought.  

I'm thinking so

IMS has gotten poor reviews from a competition standpoint for a several years now.  Not the easiest place to watch a race.   Passing has been a problem.     I am sure that is what is keeping some away.   Ticket prices are pretty reasonable.   General admission for $30 bucks (!) and you can watch from the infield viewing berms.     I had high seats reserved on the exit of turn 4 for $72, but did not pull the trigger on Saturday afternoon.    We almost drove down to see it because of the late afternoon start.  

If they could get the cars to be able to draft up and pass...      I don't know what the answer is.

[Highbanked Hauler]

Nascar is collapsing faster than previously thought. 

I'm thinking so

     Your right doesn't look good.

[wingcar]

NASCAR has had issues for some time.  They like many other sports have seen a downturn in attendance due to the economy and other factors.  It hasn't happened over night, but a lot of the "fixes" they implemented only served to drive away some of the older fan base.  And, many of the younger fans don't seem as interested in automobiles in general and don't want to sit for upwards of four hours without being connected to their electric devices.   The hay day for NASCAR is over and I personally do not see it ever returning to the levels it once was.   Will it fold...no, its big business and they will keep on moving into the future.  They will face many more challenges as they fight for their piece of the sports fan revenue.  The NASCAR of today, may not be the NASCAR of tomorrow....

Having lost their main star in Dale Earnhardt Sr. several years ago and the retirement of the old guard before that with Richard, David, Darrel, Mark...etc., means that many of the names recognized by the non racing fan/public are gone...replaced by people that those outside the sport don't know.   And, sorry to those that like him, but Earnhardt Jr. is popular only because of his namesake.  Plus, many of today's NASCAR "young guns" appear at times to be nothing more than spoiled rich kids who don't realize how lucky they really are to be in the sport.  Perception is everything to the general public.

Jimmie Johnson may just be the greatest driver they have ever had, but he will never be another Richard Petty, no matter how many championships he wins.  NASCAR no longer belongs to those that made it a mainstream sport all those years ago, and in many ways it no longer belongs to the fans that supported the sport back in the day.

I for one am glad that many of the races are now on "special" sports channels as I am not wasting time sitting in front of the TV for hours watching a race.  And, I have no intention of "upgrading" my cable package just to see a NASCAR race...it's not worth it.   And, you know what....I found that I really don't miss being able to see races....life continues!  I do tune in to the NASCAR channel on Sirius XM radio come Monday just to see who won...and you know what, that's all the NASCAR I need.

I guess I am just old school, and I do enjoy reading about and watching the old races....when NASCAR was at least a bit closer to "stockcar" racing.  Today it's all special bodies and decals...and NASCAR seems to have lost direction and I don't see how constantly changing the rules is helping much.

If you enjoy today's NASCAR that's great, as for me...I'll be out in the garage Sunday afternoons working on my "stockcar" (my street Charger).

Just my two cents for what's it worth....

[odcics2]

Lots of good points.   The economy has bounced back big time, but the nascar fan base didn't.   

[Aero426]

Lots of good points.   The economy has bounced back big time, but the nascar fan base didn't.   

All forms of traditional racing as we have known them have the problem of an aging fan base.   There may be an element of "been there, done that".    When you see names like Ganassi, Andretti and Bryan Herta fielding teams in Global Rallycross, that is an attempt to reach the younger audience they aren't getting elsewhere.

If you think NASCAR attendance is bad,  look at the Fontana Indy Car race bringing 5000 people (or less).    Milwaukee wasn't great with maybe 15,000 in the stands, less than half full.   

The fractured TV schedule certainly makes the sport harder for the casual fan to follow when you have to work to figure out what channel it's on.    I think this is less of a concern to NASCAR as long as they are getting the HUGE revenues from the networks.    Splitting it between the different networks gets NASCAR more money than working with just one provider.   

[Aero426]

Excellent article by a former NASCAR beat writer worth reading.

http://www.competitionplus.com/cp-motorsports/cp-motorsports-monte-dutton-%E2%80%93-the-roots-are-on-life-support?utm_campaign=shareaholic&utm_medium=facebook&utm_source=socialnetwork

"At least 20 years ago, I arrived at the view that, if a business bases 80 percent of its actions on the sole goal of making more money, it will probably succeed, but if it makes every single decision on that basis, it will come back to bite.   Every sport is making this mistake. NASCAR obviously wants to be the trendsetter. The Conniver of Record.

Take, for instance, the sport's chief investment, the tearing down of grandstands. The prevailing explanation is "rebuilding our brand." The English translation is, "If we reduce the capacity, it will increase the market value of the remaining seats."

I would take the opposite tack. I would note that young fans of NASCAR are an endangered species."

[wingcar]

Just finished reading Monte's take on NASCAR (The acticle Aero426 posted)....it appears as if the two of us were on the same page as he said many of the things I stated.....

Sadly, I don't see the cure for the lack of attendence or interest in NASCAR.  Then again if I did have the "cure" I'd be working in Daytona at one of the NASCAR offices.......

[JB400]

The fix for Nascar:  Ditch the common template, and go back to the offset bodies.  Give the teams the leeway to creativity and innovation.  Best team that day, wins, not the luckiest.

[Chargen69]

The fix for Nascar:  Ditch the common template, and go back to the offset bodies.  Give the teams the leeway to creativity and innovation.  Best team that day, wins, not the luckiest.

[Aero426]

The fix for Nascar:  Ditch the common template, and go back to the offset bodies.  Give the teams the leeway to creativity and innovation.  Best team that day, wins, not the luckiest.

One thing I will not complain about is the appearance of the current bodies.   The old offset bodies got to looking pretty awful.   I heard someone refer to them as "twisted sisters".    

I call this one the "carp Charger".

[Aero426]

What could have been...     

Easily the best looking of the current generation of cars. 

[wingcar]

   And, if Dodge hadn't pulled out of NASCAR...perhaps more of us would still be interested.....

[JB400]

Looks like Bowyer is moving over to join Larson and McMurray via buyout:

http://nascartalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/30/chip-ganassi-racing-confirms-kauffmans-agreement-to-buy-interest-in-team/

[TruckDriver]

Looks like Bowyer is moving over to join Larson and McMurray via buyout:

http://nascartalk.nbcsports.com/2015/07/30/chip-ganassi-racing-confirms-kauffmans-agreement-to-buy-interest-in-team/

And then you got this....
Michael Waltrip Racing co-owner buys share of Ganassi
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/michael-waltrip-racing-co-owner-buys-share-ganassi-171227366--nascar.html

[Aero426]

If Kauffman takes Bowyer and sponsorship to Ganassi, that leaves MWR in a hard spot.    Kauffman is the money man behind MWR and bought in to bail it out several years ago.   Aarons is unsigned for the #55 in 2016 and MWR does not yet have a manufacturer deal.    Aarons's has worked with Chase Elliott and could pick up his unsponsored races in 2016 (about 12).  

I would imagine the many people who work at MWR have a sick feeling about now.   Whether you like or dislike an organization, when they go under, it affects a lot of people in the trenches and their families.

[A383Wing]

And KB is still on fire...he grabs the pole for Sundays race at Pocono

[JB400]

I wonder how big the bounty is for beating him?

[JB400]

Kenseth wins due to gas mileage at Pocono.  Too bad Kyle didn't get it.  He's now out of the top 30

[A383Wing]

he was never in the top 30 since his comeback...he has until the end of the pre-season to make the top 30 to make the chase